6 November 2011

I love board games and used to nag my parents constantly when I was little to play monopoly with me as I'm an only child. It's a shame I know but don't worry I have plenty of cousins so used to play board games with them.

You can imagine my total delight then, when the very generous people from University Games sent me a copy of their 5 Second Rule board game! As you can guess the name of this game kind of gives it away, but that's not a bad thing. Infact I think it's quite exciting. The object is to correctly answer the most questions by giving three answers before the balls in the timer twist down to the bottom i.e. only giving you 5 seconds!

Here is how University Games describe it: "It should be easy to name 3 breeds of dog or 3 brands of chocolate… but can you do it under the pressure of delivering the answers within 5 seconds and not getting in a fluster? Introducing an entirely new game from University Games... 5 Second Rule – isn’t as easy as players imagine!"

With this game you get 376 Question Cards (which equates to 752 questions), 12 PASS ON Cards, 12 SWITCH Cards, 6 Playing Pawns (or markers), 1 Playing Board and 1 Spiral Timer.

To set up each player gets a marker and 2 PASS ON cards as well as 2 SWITCH cards. Everyone puts their marker on the start position and the question cards go in the card box with all the cards at the draw position with the same colour facing the same way. The playing board is in the shape of a big 5 and has 12 steps on it, which you probably think would be pretty easy to get through - wrong! It's actually quite hard but you have great fun trying.

The youngest player always goes first and play should move to the left. The player on the right of the person in the hot seat should choose a card and begin to read aloud the question. All cards begin with "Name 3..." and when the player has finished reading the question they should swiftly turn over the timer so that the person in the hot seat has 5 seconds to give three correct answers. If the answers given do not seem correct then the group as a whole should decide if they are acceptable. If not the player in the hot seat gets no points and the player to the left should try to answer the same question but cannot use any of the answers the previous person used. It should continue like this until someone gets the answers right or if the card gets back to the original player with no one getting it correct then they get to move forward one space.

The PASS ON cards and SWITCH cards are pretty self explanatory, the pass on card gets passed to the player on their left to answer and if they fail to answer correctly then the original player gets the point and gets to move forward and the switch card basically means if the player doesn't like the question then they can switch to another.

There is also a danger zone in the middle of the playing board. If the player on the danger zone doesn't answer their question with 3 correct answers on their next turn then they basically miss a turn before caring on as normal.

So there you have it, a thrilling fast and furious game which is sure to see people slipping up and stuttering at every corner. A fun family Christmas game if you ask me, and although my other half and I have tried it out I think it'll be more fun with more than 2 people so I'm bringing this one out at Christmas after everyone's had a bit too much to drink. Fab!

This game is suitable for kids aged 8 and over to adulthood and suits from 3 to 6 players. RRP £19.99 and can be purchased from WHSmith, Tesco, Argos and Toys 'r' us.

Overall really happy with this game, it's fun, it's racey, it's exciting. All you want and more in a board game really. It's a bit on the pricey side to be honest and could do with being a bit cheaper but apart from that it's a great family game that will be enjoyed again and again.